Sunday, October 14, 2012

Arnold Classic Europe, Felix and other ramblings

Arnold Classic Europe happened in Madrid over the weekend. I'm not going to go into where everyone placed. Go to Flex Magazines Website to find out. I will touch on a couple things.

1: Shawn Rhoden is proof is not where you start, but where you finish. The guy we saw at the Arnold and the Flex Pro is not the same guy. Whatever he and Chris Aceto are doing is working, and he needs to keep doing it. I think he is the closet we currently have to Flex Wheeler. I know there a lot of others who aren't or wont give him that title, but I will. He still needs more time at the championship level, because now he's the hunted and not the hunter. I think he'll handle that role reversal well.

2: Roelly Winklaar in third is not a placing I agree with. He was smaller and softer. He needs the rest until next year. He has to find a way to keep the muscle he has without burning it off. He tries to get three percent better but comes back 20 percent worse. Sometimes it helps to just diet your ass off and go in as is. Don;t change anything. Chris Cormier did it a couple times and he's won plenty of pro shows including the Night of Champions (remember that show)

3: Toney Freeman at his worst, in a show like this, is NEVER a fifth place bodybuilder. He was no lower than second and made a push for first. Yes I'm looking at pictures, but those are some damn good pictures then. I don't know why he finished that low, but hopefully he keeps going until he's 50. I'm serious. I enjoy seeing him onstage.

Felix Baumgartner

The man basically jumped from space. What kind of thinking does that take? A special one. Is he a bit off? Quite possibly. But he sat down, saw something he wanted to break, and went after it. It wasn't overnight either. Time was spent planning, practicing and thinking about it. He may have burned a few relationships, but you know what? The people who see you have a goal will be with you no matter what. He was probably told "no, you're stupid" or "Why do you want to do that".

I guarantee those same people are in bars and at home while he accomplished history.

Blaze a trail. You have a dream that will leave you broke (initially, because profit is good) but only you can see it, go after it. We all die, just smash that shit.

Disclaimer: have a back up plan. May take you on a different path but will get you to your goal if you stick with it.

I mean lets really think about it. Half of you all worry about stuff you have no control over (I see you and your negative political timelines. You all humor me, and not in a good way). Imagine if you put the same energy into chasing something significant?

Training:

Just kind of going through the motions and grabbing great ones where I can. It will be like that until after this election when I pick things back up. I'm still trying to get my volume up and put muscle on. I'm excited for whats to come, but thats thinking too far forward. I need to handle now.

Later...........






Thursday, October 4, 2012

Travels, work, school, and other stuff.

I just posted a log over on my log at trainscg.com so I'm not gonna go into training too much. There just isn't anything going on right now for me on the competitive front, so theres no reason to constantly push the envelope in regards to training. You have to know when to push and when to back away, and with how busy I am with everything, I just drew back my training a bit. I will pick it up a bit after this weekend as I don't want to see another airplane for awhile.

Travels:

So just a review for the year. I have been to Pittsburgh twice, Tampa, Dallas, Las Vegas and covered two shows in Chicago (special thanks to Chris San Juan for his help at the Jr.Nationals). To say this year, summer in particular, has been busy is an understatement. Add to that a Summer powerlifting meet and classes and you have a recipe for me staying sober. Traveling as part of Flex was unique. First, it is a lot of work. Enjoyable work though. I enjoy speaking with people who are dedicated to their craft. As flawed as the sport of bodybuilding is, I think its a great endeavor for anyone. I feel the same way about powerlifting, strongman and highland games.

Competing:

Did a meet over the summer at Lances Gym and it went well. I didn't PR, but that was my third meet of the year and I have three 600+ lbs deadlifts, so that works for me. I ran a Westside style template and I'm not above running another one actually, I would make changes to it, but nothing crazy to be honest. Maybe some more full range movements but not an overhaul by any means.

School:

It's going. I'm getting a bit flustered, but staying dedicated to the process of completing assignments. Other subjects are coming as long as i stay on top of them. I will not lose, but I do have my work cut out for me.

Mr.Olympia:

Phil Heath is a two time Mr.Olympia. Thats a testament to his hard work and I enjoyed seeing him win. What I really enjoyed the most was seeing a ward of the state of New York who never gave up on his dream of being a pro become second in the world of bodybuilding. You can spin it anyway, bring up his previous transgressions (or mistakes), harp on him trying to sound intelligent, but the bottom line is this.

Kai Greene is the American Dream. a little black boy from Brooklyn saw something he identified with and never let it go. And for that, he deserves props. Disagree? Don't really care.

Shawn Rhoden is the truth and Dexter Jackson is still one of the best bodybuilders on the face of the earth and a for sure HOF'er. I thought his and Rhoden should've been flip flopped with Dex in third. But thats life sometimes.

One placing I disagree with on every level is Toney Freeman outside of the top six. I do not see the love affair with Dennis Wolf. At all.

Branch Warren was Branch Warren. He could've been tighter, but thats something to look at in the future. Him and George Farah make a good duo.

Flex Lewis winning the 212 is a great decision and should've happened last year. He presented a new package and it looked great. I was also happy to see Dave Henry back onstage as well after a deployment. Welcome back Henry.


Thats it right now. Holla later